


Nico

by Nocturnalist (CaptainJack)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-08
Updated: 2015-12-08
Packaged: 2018-05-05 14:07:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5378033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainJack/pseuds/Nocturnalist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the War with Gaia, Nico decides to spend some time wandering the country. During his wanders he meets a nice young man who asks him out. Nico says yes and they live happily ever after. Not really, but about as close as a demigod can come to it. </p><p>Rights to everything except John and the plot belong to Uncle Rick.</p><p>Written before I knew about Solangelo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Leave Taking

**Author's Note:**

> All the things are belonging to Uncle Rick. Except for the plot and original characters, those are mine.

It had been a month since the end of the war with Gaia and everything at the two camps had settled down into a sort of comfortable rhythm. Comfortable that is for everyone except Nico. Nico couldn't bare to be at the same camp as Percy and Jason was almost always at the other camp urging Nico to just tell Percy. It was time to leave, he just couldn't stand it anymore. He decided to take Jason's advice, just not how Jase had meant it. 

_Dear Percy,_

_I'm leaving. I'm sorry, it's not anything you did or anything you could have helped with. Actually that's the reason, you can't help. I love you. Yes, I'm gay and I've had a crush on you since I met you. I can't stand seeing you everyday and not being able to call you mine. I wish you all the luck in the world with Annabeth, in fact I think if you were to ask her to marry you she would say yes. I will show up to your wedding, but I won't stay long. Tell Annabeth that I quite like her despite my envy for me would you? Gods this is hard. I know you think I blame you for Bianca, but I don't. Haven't since I talked to her the first time after she died. She explained it to me, she was self-admittedly stupid and her death was her choice. No, I don't blame you for her death. The reason I always run is my feelings towards you and that I know you aren't even the right sexuality for me to have a snowball's chance in the Flegathon, not to mention the fact that you have Annabeth. Oh, tell Jason I took his advice would you? Goodbye Percy, I love you and I can't stand to be constantly reminded of what I can never have._

_Yours,_

_Nico_

Nico shadow traveled into the Poseidon cabin and left the letter where he was sure Percy would find it when he woke up. From there he shadow traveled directly to a grave yard in Chicago. 

 


	2. Nico's Gone

Percy woke up and swung his legs over the side of his bed as he sat up. He stood to get some clothes to change into and heard the crinkle of paper under his foot. He picked up the note and sat down to puzzle out the Greek writing. 

 

Annabeth became worried when Percy didn't show up to breakfast. She felt a thrill of fear remembering the last time he didn't come to breakfast. Last time he had been kidnapped by Hera. Annabeth ran down to the Poseidon cabin and was relieved when she saw Percy in side it, but fearful when she saw that he was crying. 

"Percy! What's wrong!" Annabeth asked, her voice shaking slightly. 

"Nico's gone," he replied. 

"Gone? Gone as in dead or gone as in he ran again?" she asked trembling now. 

"He ran, I don't think it even occurred to him to kill himself, but if it had I think he would be dead," Percy said and handed her the note. What she read there gave her chills. 

"You're right, I think we're very lucky he doesn't seem to realize that that's an option. If he did I think he would be long dead by now, I mean he's a child of the thirties! When he was born being gay was something that quite often got you dead, whether by your own hands or by someone else's. Yes, we're very lucky he's alive," Annabeth said. 

"I know, but I get this sinking feeling that we'll never see him again. He's right about my not returning his feelings, but I still love him like a brother," Percy sobbed into Annabeth's shoulder. 

"Come on, let's go tell the rest of the camp," Annabeth said dreading what she was about to do especially because all of the seven were at camp Half-Blood that week. 

 

Annabeth and Percy stood at the front of the dining tent. Percy had obviously been crying and the thought of what could make him do that was sending shivers through the assembled demigods. 

"Nico left us last night. We most likely won't see him again unless Percy and I get married in which case we will probably see him for all of five minutes," Annabeth was going to say more when she was cut off by Hazel sobbing. 

"Jason, what advice did you give Nico?" Percy asked. 

"I told him he should tell you how he felt," Jason said sadly. 

"Well, he certainly did that," Percy said.

"What did he say?" Jason asked sounding like he wanted to make sure that Nico had said the same thing to both of them. 

"He said he loves me," Percy said. Jason's eyes widened. 

"He told me that he had a crush on you a while back," Jason said. 

"He lied. The fact that I can't reciprocate is why he left," Percy said, "But I think of him as my brother as much as Hazel's." Percy started to cry again and Annabeth held him. 

 


	3. Translator

Nico woke up lying against the side of the church that stood in front of the graveyard. He hadn't really thought about how he was going to survive. He was homeless now and had no way of feeding himself. He had brought some nectar and ambrosia, but those weren't very good to keep one fed and he very well might need them to heal himself if he were to get attacked. He would have to get a job then he decided. He walked into town. It wasn't an incredibly large town as it was so close to the big city, but there was a local book store that had a now hiring sign in the window. He came inside and walked up to the cashier.   
"I'm here about the job," he told the woman.   
"Alright hon, I'll call the manager," she said. The manager came out and lead Nico to his office.   
"Let's see your resume then," the manager said.   
"I don't have one sir," Nico said, "I lost my parents when I was ten and have been bounced around foster homes so often that I've never even been to high school. I turned 18 last week and as a birthday present my latest foster home dumped me on the street, which they can do because the CPS doesn't care what happens to you once you turn 18," Nico said.   
"Wow, that's quite the sob story," the manager said, "but for all I know you could be lying to me, so why should I give you this job?"   
"Because I need it bad enough that I will starve if I can't find some kind of work within the next two weeks," Nico said "I have literally no money at all, just a couple of biscuits and a thermos of water."  
"Aright, is there anything else I should know?" the manager asked.   
"I'm dyslexic, but I have more success reading Greek and Latin, and I speak Greek, Latin, and Italian, also I'm ADHD," Nico said.   
"That's quite the combination," the manager said, "but you're a gift. I happen to need someone to translate some texts I got in recently and some of them are in those languages. If I assign someone to write what you say and have you shelving things when you go stir crazy could you translate them?"   
"I don't see why not," Nico said.   
"Excellent, you've got a job, and I'll let you sleep in the store after we close," the manager said.   
"Grazie!" Nico said, it was more than he had hoped for.   
"Great, why don't you start now, I'll show you to the place where you'll be working and you can get started while I find you someone to write your translations," the manager said.

Nico started reading a large tomb that was written in Latin.   
 _A Half-Blood of the eldest gods_  
 _Shall reach sixteen against all odds_  
 _And see the world in endless sleep_  
 _The hero's soul cursed blade shall reap_  
 _A single choice shall end his days_  
 _Olympus to preserve or raise._  
Nico dropped the book in shock. He grabbed the book and ran to find the manager.   
"Do you realize what this book is?" Nico asked.  
"No, that's why I hired you," he said.   
"This is one of the sibylline books!" Nico cried.   
"Which means?" the manager asked.   
"This book is filled with prophecy," Nico explained, "For example this one here talks about a demigod turning sixteen and saving the world. Of course that's not what it says, but it's already come to pass so I know what it means despite its vagueness."  
"How do you know all that?" the manager asked.   
"It's about my cousin," he said, "See here it says 'a half-blood of the eldest gods' meaning me or my cousins. 'Shall reach sixteen against all odds' we don't tend to live that long. 'And see the world in endless sleep' Hypnos, the god of sleep put Manhattan to sleep in preparation for the up coming battle. 'The hero's soul cursed blade shall reap' this one's harder to explain because the hero wasn't my cousin and the cursed blade was my cousin's girlfriend's dagger and I'd have to tell you her life story to explain why it was cursed. 'Olympus to preserve or raise' this line is talking about my cousin's choice of whether or not to give the hero the cursed blade to kill himself with, he did and Olympus was saved."  
"What you just said didn't make a whole lot of sense," the manager said, "but I take it you're telling me that some people would pay a lot of money for this book?"   
"More or less, you can't just sell it to anyone, but I could probably hook you up with someone who would do exactly that," Nico said.  
"Do you need to use my phone?" the manager asked obviously eager to sell the book.   
"No, but I do need either a prism or a spray bottle of water," Nico replied. The manager raised one eyebrow, but got him a prism anyway.   
"Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering. Show me Reyna at Camp Jupiter," Nico said and threw a gold coin into the rainbow.   
"Nico!" the image of a young woman cried, "Where are you? Everyone's so worried! Come home!"  
"You know I can't do that Reyna, but I have found something that'll get Octavian off your back. It'll cost you, but I'm talking monetarily. I've found one of the sibylline books," Nico said.   
"Oh, Nico you are, as your name implies, an angel! I'll have retired by the time Octavian emerges from Jupiter's temple! Nico, I'm seriously putting you up for saint-hood!" the woman danced with joy.  
"How much will you pay me for it and where do I ship it to?" the manager asked.   
"I'll give you a thousand dollars for it, and just have Nico ship it via Mercury postal," she said.   
"Speaking of shipping," a voice said from behind them, "I might as well take it now."   
"Lord Hermes," Nico said and handed him the book and a coin.   
"I also need you to sign for a package Mr.Di Angelo," Hermes said. Nico did exactly that Hermes gave him a small package. Then both the god and the woman in the rainbow disappeared.   
"So, you lied to me when you told me who you where," the manager said.   
"Can you blame me? If I had told you that I had run away from a camp for demigods to get away from an unhealthy one-sided relationship and I've never been to high school because I was too busy fighting hidden wars and any high school I applied to would likely balk at a nineteen thirties birth-certificate you would have sent me to a mental institution. I didn't, however, lie about why you should have given me the job, the only difference there is that the biscuits are ambrosia and the water is actually nectar. I suggest you don't try them as they would quite literally burn you up," Nico said.  
"Can you describe what it tastes like?" the manager asked surprising Nico.   
"Like my mother's gnocchi," Nico replied, "for my cousin it's his mother's blue chocolate-chip cookies. They taste like your favorite comfort food whatever that happens to be."  
"Alright, you get back to work and I'll have someone to copy down what you say in a couple of minutes. We'll talk more when we close," the manager said.

 


	4. John

Nico fell into a comfortable rhythm for the next few weeks and soon weeks turned to months. Nico found that his plan had worked he no longer pined after Percy and cried himself too sleep every night. Every Sunday he would call Hazel on the monster proofed phone that had been in the package Hermes had delivered and she had eventually forgiven him. One day Nico was shelving books between translation sessions when a handsome young man asked him to show him the Greek mythology section. Nico lead him to the correct section and said,"Any of these will give you a basic outline, but if you find yourself wanting to know more come back and I can tell you what you won't find in any book."  
"I'll keep that in mind," he said with a smile, "Who do I ask for if I decide to take you up on that?"   
"Nico," Nico said finding the young man's smile infectious.

Nico decided to talk to his manager, "A young man just came in asking about Greek mythology, so I showed him the book selection, but I also told him that if he was interested I could tell him more. Is it alright if I do that after my shift is over?" 

"Absolutely," the manager said. 

Three days later Nico was in the middle of translating a Greek text when he heard someone at the information desk asking for him. 

"He's in the middle of translating a text right at the moment, but I can show you where he's working and you two can discuss where you want to meet after his shift," the information lady said. 

"That would be great thanks!" the young man said. Then the information lady poked her head in the door. 

"There's a young man to see you Nico," she said. 

"Thanks, you can go ahead and send him in. I'll make him leave the room if he distracts me for more than five minutes," Nico said. 

"Hello again," the young man said. 

"Hello, come in. I have another half an hour in my shift, but after that we can talk," Nico said. 

"Alright, do you want me to wait out in the store?" the young man asked. 

"Only if you want to. Other wise you can listen to me translate," Nico said. 

"I'll sit and listen then," the young man said. 

"You shall go west, and face the god who has turned,

You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned,

You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend,

And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end," Nico translated.

"Make a note that this is another one of those books that the right people will pay a lot for," Nico said to his note taker. 

"You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone,

You shall find what you seek and make it your own,

But despair for your life entombed within stone,

And fail without friends, to fly home alone.

New poem:

Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,

One shall be lost in the land without rain,

The bane of Olympus shows the trail,

Campers and Hunters combined prevail,

The Titan's curse must one withstand,

And one shall perish by a parent's hand," Nico stopped his hands shaking slightly.

"That one is going to be hard for me to explain because the second line refers to my sister," Nico said. He took a deep breath and continued.   
  


"So where do you want to start?" Nico asked. 

"Why does everybody hate Hades?" the young man, who's name, he had said, was John, asked.

"Because no one likes to be reminded of their mortality, or in the case of the other gods, they find him creepy," Nico said, "It's nice to find someone who doesn't automatically know why." 

"You don't seem to to hate him, why's that?" John asked. 

"I do hate him sometimes, but I hate him for other reasons," Nico said.

"He just seems lonely to me," John said. 

"Ya, less so since he married Persephone, but yes and it makes him irritable. He's the oldest god and everyone would rather forget about him. The same is mostly true of the oldest goddess, but that's because she's so quiet. They really do forget she's there," Nico said. 

"Who's the oldest goddess?" John asked. 

"Hestia, the goddess of hearth and home," Nico said with a smile, "Very kind goddess, she takes care of anyone who comes to her domain and bothers to remember her."

 


	5. Demigod

Weeks passed and John asked Nico out. By the time six months had passed Nico was living in John's apartment and sleeping in the same bed with him. That particular night Nico was sleeping on the side of the bed that was not pushed up against the wall. John had to go to the bathroom so he tried to climb over Nico without waking him. He had made it halfway over Nico when he found himself lying on his back with a knife to his throat and Nico on top of him. Then Nico relaxed and started breathing heavily. 

"I'm so sorry, I thought you were attacking me," Nico said. 

"Nico, why would you think someone crawling over you would be attacking you and why do you sleep with a bronze knife?" John asked. 

"You remember all that research you did on Greek mythology? Did you read about demigods?" Nico asked. 

"Yes," John said waiting for Nico to come to the point. 

"My father is Hades. And when you're the child of a god, especially one as powerful as Hades you learn young to defend yourself. Too many things want to eat you to not learn how to use a blade. On top of that fighting in two separate wars before you turn sixteen will give you hair trigger reflexes. And don't worry, being mortal the knife will go right through you. Just try not to touch my sword," Nico said. John took the knife from Nico and lay the edge against his palm and pushed it right through his hand. He blanched. 

"That's far out," John said. 

"It's interesting that you have clear-sight and didn't know that I'm a demigod," Nico said. 

"Well I knew that you weren't what you seemed, but I had no idea  _what_  you were. I mean I've been seeing monsters that I thought looked familiar so I started to research them," John said. 

"Well then, we should get you a celestial bronze weapon," Nico said smiling and kissed John. 

 


	6. Home Coming

It had been five years since Nico had asked for a new knife. Last night Nico had sent word that he was coming home. The seven and Calypso stood on the top of half-blood hill waiting. A taxi pulled up to and Nico got out laughing. Then another man holding a child stepped out of the other side of the taxi and Nico went to the trunk to get the several bags that were stored there. 

"He looks so happy," Hazel said. 

"And it appears that you have a niece," Percy said. Nico and the man with the baby trudged up the hill. 

"I, Nico Di Angelo, allow you, John Di Angelo into Camp Half-Blood," Nico said when they reached the top of the hill and then preceded to hug the seven and introduce them to his husband. 

"Thank you," Percy said to John, "I have never seen him this happy." John just smiled. 

"So, adopted or made?" Annabeth asked John indicating the baby in his arms. 

"Made, my sister agreed to be surrogate so that she would be actually related to both of us," John said. 

"And what's her name?" Jason asked. 

"Maria Jessica Di Angelo, after both our mothers," John said. 

"She's adorable Nico," Piper said. 

"I know, and she's already learned how to use that against her two doting fathers," Nico said smiling. 

"Let's get them down to the Hades cabin," Hazel said, "I think dad knew you were coming, because I woke up this morning to find that it's been renovated." Nico laughed. The seven looked at each other in wonder, none of them had ever heard Nico laugh in such a genuine manner. Sure they'd heard him laugh, but it had always been a bitter and ironic sound never an expression of pure joy the way it was now. If this is what John and Maria had given Nico it was no wonder Hades had renovated the cabin. 

 


End file.
